More news:

There are so many pertinent stories in the news lately, it is hard to keep up.

1. Food Shortages (coming famine?):

Worst Freeze In 60 Years Wipes Out Entire Crops Across The Southwestern U.S. And Northern Mexico

Get ready to pay a lot more for produce at the supermarket. In early February the worst freeze in 60 years wiped out entire crops all across the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico.

The really bizarre weather that we have been seeing all over the globe this winter is really playing havoc with food prices.

The global price of food hit an all-time record during the month of January, and most observers expect food prices to continue to soar. Even before this recent horrible freeze in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, global food prices were pushed higher by unprecedented flooding in Australia and Brazil, and key agricultural areas of China are now experiencing their worst drought in 200 years.

One crop that was hit particularly hard by the recent freeze was corn. In fact, officials in Mexico are estimating that four million tons of corn have been lost. That represents a full 16 percent of Mexico's annual corn harvest.

The truth is that the price of corn is so vitally important because corn is used in literally thousands of different food products....

Not only that, corn is also a very significant part of most types of feed for cattle, chickens and pigs.

The price of corn has already doubled in the past six months, and now this freeze is likely to drive prices quite a bit higher.

In fact, most analysts fully expect the price of corn to shatter all former records as we move through the rest of 2011.

2. Earthquakes:

Earthquakes are becoming a story again. This story has been quietly simmering along as we have watched the Middle East and other news, but lets just look at ~ 48 hours worth (note the diversity of location - as Jesus warned)

6.1 Quake strikes near Tonga

3rd earthquake shakes Utah County residents

Yet Another Quake Hits Chile - Magnitude 6.6

4.3 quake hits near Mt. St. Helens, with 30 aftershocks

A quick look at the earthquake map reveals the following:

4.7 Morocco
4.2 Germany
4.8 Myanmar
4.9 Indonesia
4.9 Tajikistan
5.4 Northern Chile
5.2 New Guinea
5.2 New Britain
4.5 Nepal
5.1 Fiji

3. One world financial system - single currency

France wants new global finance system

Add France to that growing list. This effort is gaining a lot of momentum. Input from France carries a lot of weight because they are the head of the G20 right now.

France will help the transition to a global financial system based on 'several international currencies', the French Economy Minister said today.

Lagarde, speaking ahead of a G20 finance ministers meeting in Paris on Friday and Saturday, said the world had to move on from the 'non-monetary system' it now has to one 'based on several international currencies'.

France has previously said it wanted to see the global financial system reduce its reliance on the dollar for a more broad-based arrangement.

4. Instability in the Middle East as radical, anti-Israel groups take control:

We've seen it in Turkey and Lebanon. Egypt may be on the way. And now Jordan?

'Queen Rania is a corrupt thief'

For some reason, the uprising that is beginning in Jordan has been directed to Queen Rania.

Will Jordanian Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and her husband be next in line to flee their homeland, as was the case with the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt?

In a letter published this week by 36 Jordanian tribal leaders, who represent nearly 40% of the population and play an important role in the kingdom's politics, the Queen was criticized relentlessly.

The tribal leaders compared the queen to the wife of former Tunisian president Leila Ben Ali, who stole from her country's treasury for years, giving her family members vast sums of money and land at the expense of the Tunisian citizens.

The tribal leaders warned that if the royal family fails to act quickly and implement the new financial and social reforms and move towards a democratic regime, they will suffer the same fate of Tunisia and Egypt'd leaders.

"Sooner or later Jordan will be a destination for a similar uprising like the ones in Tunisia and Egypt because of oppression of freedom and robbing from public funds," said the letter.

The bottom line in Jordan?

In the past weeks thousands of Jordanians took to the streets to support their Arab brothers who rebelled against the "tyrannical regimes." The support rallies turned into a united cry to overthrow the Jordanian government due to the harsh economic situation, the growing unemployment, the high food prices and freedom of speech restrictions in the kingdom.

This situation is most definitely worth watching.

The above stories aren't just in a single day of prophecy watching - the stories above represent 1/2 of a day of "watching".

It is amazing how many pertinent news stories are circulating in a single day now. The signs of our times are definitely coming in waves, or like birth pains - as Jesus described.

The difference in following the news in today's world is very different than it was 20-30 years ago. Back then, we could go weeks without seeing anything significant or pertinent in the news. Now, one can miss an afternoon of "watching" and find themselves way behind on the news.

Birth pains. Indeed.